Lakshmi Mittal richest biz tycoon in South Africa

Johanneburg: India-born steel magnate Lakshmi
Mittal remains the richest business tycoon in South Africa
despite his fortune having halved in the past year due to the
global recession.

Mittal heads the Rich List, a ranking of the 150
wealthiest businessmen in South Africa released here by the
weekly Sunday Times, for the fifth consecutive year, even
though he is not living in South Africa.

He has been included in the list because of his
shareholding in Arcelor Mittal SA, the steel company born out
of Mittal`s takeover of former state-owned monopoly Iscor.

According to the Rich List, Mittal remains at the top of
the list despite the value of his stake in Arcelor Mittal SA
having come down to more than half in the past year, from 45.7
billion rand to 16.95 billion rand owing to weak global
markets.

The Rich List is based on an analysis of holdings of all
companies listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange.

Their nearest rival Nicky Oppenheimer was way below them
with just 5.3 billion rand. Only four South African Indian
businessmen -- Ragi Moonsamy (61), Akhter Deshmukh (143),
Mustaq Brey (145) and Yogesh Narsing (147) -- made it to the
list of 150.